Eagles defense stifles Ravens offense in big road win, 24 to 19

The Philadelphia Eagles are 10-2 after beating the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday! Final score: 24 to 19.

And 19 points for the Ravens includes a garbage-time touchdown scored with just seven seconds remaining in the game.

Entering Week 13, Baltimore was averaging the second-most offensive points per game in the NFL with 29.9. Vic Fangio’s defense kept the Ravens to just 12 when it was still competitive. Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry made some nice plays but were largely kept in check.

The Eagles’ defense deserves credit for keeping the Ravens from breaking things open while Philly’s offense struggled to get going. Despite Baltimore allowing the second-most passing yards per game in the league, Jalen Hurts only accounted for 118 passing yards.

Hurts contributed to an all-around and all-too-familiar slow start by the offense. As such, the Eagles found themselves in a hole down nine points.

But the offense stepped up when it counted. And no one bigger than Saquon Barkley, whose 25-yard touchdown run gave the Eagles a two-possession lead late in the fourth quarter.

With many considering this game to be a potential Super Bowl preview, this is a huge win for the Eagles and their outlook. There’s no question this team is a legitimate championship contender.

The win also keeps the Birds just slightly behind the Detroit Lions in the pursuit for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff picture. The Eagles might be able to capitalize if the Lions stumble at all down the stretch.

Next up for the Eagles: a return to Lincoln Financial Field to host the Carolina Panthers, who’ve looked more competitive lately.

Read on for a recap and stay tuned for BGN’s postgame coverage.

FIRST QUARTER

The Eagles lost the opening coin toss and the Ravens elected to defer, putting Philly’s offense up first. Saquon Barkley started the game with a 13-yard run. Jalen Hurts’ first pass attempt was tipped at the line of scrimmage and went incomplete. The Eagles lined up in 21 personnel (two running backs) and went with a lateral to a motioning Will Shipley (!?) to bring up third down. Curious to see the rookie RB involved at all … and so early. Facing 3rd-and-6, Hurts’ pass short of the sticks to Britain Covey went through the wide receiver’s hands. Would’ve been 4th-and-2 or so with a completion. Here’s a question: why go away from Saquon? The Eagles punted the ball to the Ravens’ 14-yard punt but a holding penalty on Rick Lovato made the Eagles punt again. Then Kelee Ringo hit the Ravens’ punt returner after a fair catch signal. Very dumb stuff!
The Ravens took over at their own 33-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-5 after two Derrick Henry runs, Josh Sweat got to Lamar Jackson for a sack … but Avonte Maddox — who was on the field for some reason (WHY?!) — got penalized for defensive holding. Jackson escaped from pressure and hit Zay Flowers downfield for an explosive gain into the red zone. Painful sequence. Jalen Carter blew up Flowers in the backfield and then Mark Andrews failed to bring in an over-the-shoulder catch to force the Ravens to settle for a 34-yard Justin Tucker field goal make. Well, that could’ve been a lot worse. EAGLES 0, RAVENS 3.

The Eagles took over at their own 30-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-6 after one Barkley run and a Hurts throwaway, Hurts targeted an A.J. Brown deep down the field but the pass was too wide/overthrown. An 0/4 start to the game for Hurts. Notable Ravens injury: Kyle Hamilton (concussion) went down and was ruled questionable to return.
The Ravens took over at their own 18-yard line. The Ravens drove past midfield. Nolan Smith got called for an illegal hands to the face penalty to put Baltimore well in field goal range. Henry broke a 19-yard run into goal-to-go territory. The Ravens finally got called for a penalty (to four for the Eagles), a false start, to knock them back. Jackson had all day to throw … and Andrews made a pretty great jump ball catch in traffic for a Ravens touchdown. Difficult to defend that one. Tucker single-doinked the extra point off the left upright. EAGLES 0, RAVENS 9.

Eagles S C.J. Gardner-Johnson just called the entire defense together on the sideline and make a passionate speech. Something needs to be done because the defense has been carved apart early on. Missed tackles, penalties, and not keeping contain on the edge are killing them.

— Chris Franklin (@cfranklinnews) December 1, 2024

That was an 8-play, 82-yard TD drive for the Ravens in which the Eagles defense never even got them to a third down.

Lamar Jackson is 5-for-6 for 92 yards. Two explosive completions and averaging 15.3 YPA on first two drives.

— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) December 1, 2024

The Eagles took over at their own 27-yard line and then A.J. Brown false started to put them back at their own 22. Facing 3rd-and-7 after a Barkley run and a Barkley reception (good job to actually focus on giving him the ball), Hurts was sacked.
The Ravens originally took over at their own 32-yard line after Tylan Wallace muffed the punt and recovered it. Ringo got called for being out of bounds on the kick for his second special teams penalty of the game and the Eagles’ sixth as a team. The Eagles had to punt again and the Ravens had a short return get to the 36-yard line. Jackson somehow missed a wide open Isaiah Likely for a big gain. Jackson and Henry bobbled an exchange but Jackson recovered. Facing 3rd-and-19, the Ravens went with a screen that only picked up five yards and brought up the end of the first quarter.

The Ravens out-gained the Eagles 133-22 in the first quarter.

— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) December 1, 2024

SECOND QUARTER

The Eagles took over at their own 20-yard line after a short Britain Covey (Jim Nantz called him Britain Coe-vay after first saying Britain COO-vay) return. Hurts to A.J. Brown on a slant went for a first down. Facing 3rd-and-1 after two straight Barkley runs, Barkley was tackled for a loss on a run from the shotgun. Why. Facing 4th-and-2 from their own 41-yard line, Nick Sirianni went conservative and sent out the punt team. Braden Mann’s punt bounced to the 1-yard line, where it was downed by Sydney Brown. Hey, a good special teams play!
Backed up against their own end zone, Jackson completed a short pass to Andrews to give the Ravens offense some breathing room. Though he wasn’t able to make the tackle, Jordan Davis helped to disrupt a Henry run for no gain. Facing 3rd-and-5, Jackson’s pass to an open Flowers for a first down landed at the receiver’s feet. Just a really bad miss that worked in Philly’s favor. Two straight three-and-outs for the Eagles’ defense.
The Eagles took over at the plus 49-yard line after a short Covey return. Barkley was tackled for another loss when Hurts could’ve had a big gain if he made a better read and kept the ball. Hurts hit Jahan Dotson for a short gain to bring up third down. Facing 3rd-and-4, Hurts Barkley ripped a run through good blocking up the middle for a first down. The Eagles went no-huddle and Hurts kept the ball for an eight-yard gain. Hurts to Brown on an RPO throw resulted in another Eagles first down. Hurts went to Dallas Goedert and the tight end found the end zone for the Eagles’ first score! Life. 6-play, 49-yard drive with Hurts going 3/3 through the air. EAGLES 7, RAVENS 9.

Big day in store for Dallas Goedert?

The Ravens are allowing the most tight end receptions and second-most TE yards. #Eagles

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) December 1, 2024

The Ravens took over at their own 25-yard line after Jalyx Hunt put a huge hit on the Ravens’ kick returner. Facing 3rd-and-2, Zack Baun flew into the backfield to drop the Ravens for a loss. Baun has just made big play after big play this season. The Ravens punted after their third straight three-and-out.

Eagles defense has forced 3 straight three-and-outs.

Ravens have run 9 plays for just 5 yards gained in that sequence.

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) December 1, 2024

The Eagles took over at their own 32-yard line after the Ravens shanked a punt. Hurts hit Brown multiple times to get the Eagles into field goal range. Hurts had a keeper that was going to go for a loss before he threw it out of bounds, which led to Mekhi Becton getting called for illegal man downfield. Hurts went back to Brown to set up a near-first down. Then Hurts hit Goedert for an actual first down into the red zone. Facing 3rd-and-5 after a Barkley run and an no-call on Kyle Hamilton illegally holding Goedert, Hurts took off running on a designed QB run to the 1-yard line. The Eagles went Brotherly Shove and Cam Jurgens’ snap was bad but Hurts was able to pick it up and extend over the goal line anyway. On the broadcast, Tony Romo said it should’ve been a false start … but it wasn’t. Two straight Eagles TD drives after the slow start. Kudos to Hurts for turning it around. EAGLES 14, RAVENS 9.

The Ravens took over at their own 41-yard line with 1:55 on the clock and three timeouts to work with after a good kick return (nice ST tackle by Will Shipley to prevent it from going to the house). Nolan Smith got to Jackson from behind to sack the Ravens QB. Facing 3rd-and-7, Jackson avoided pressure and took off running for a first down. Jackson completed a pass to Flowers to get to the 20-yard line with 0:31 on the clock and the Ravens down to zero timeouts. Carter sacked Jackson for a 12-yard loss and the QB was originally flagged for intentional grounding but replay assist ruled him down by contact. The Eagles held Jackson to a throwaway and then Tucker came in for a 50-yard field goal make. Good job to limit the damage after allowing Baltimore to get to the red zone. EAGLES 14, RAVENS 12.

The Eagles took a knee with three seconds remaining in the first half.

Jalen Hurts in the first quarter: 1/5, 5 yards

Hurts in the second quarter: 8/9, 99 yards, 1 TD; 4 rushes, 17 yards, 1 TD

— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) December 1, 2024

Eagles OLB/DE 1st half snaps in Brandon Graham’s absence, via NextGen:

Nolan Smith 24
Josh Sweat 22
Jalyx Hunt 14

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) December 1, 2024

After not using play action on any first quarter attempts, Jalen Hurts was 6-of-6 for 70 yards with a touchdown on play action in the second quarter.

— @ESPNStatsInfo

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) December 1, 2024

THIRD QUARTER
The Ravens took over at their own 30-yard line. Jackson took off scrambling for a first down. Two Henry runs picked up another first down. Carter pressured Jackson into a bad throw for an incompletion. Jalyx Hunt made a nice tackle to limit the Ravens to a short run. Facing 3rd-and-8, Andrews made another leaping catch downfield for a first down into the red zone. Quinyon Mitchell got hurt after a short Ravens completion. With Isaiah Rodgers already filling in for Darius Slay, Kelee Ringo entered the game at cornerback. Carter disrupted a screen to bring up third down. Facing 3rd-and-5, Vic Fangio brought a blitz and Baun (HE’S EVERYWHERE) got to Jackson for a big sack! Baun’s first sack since he had two in Week 1. Hunt also got credit for a split sack. Tucker’s 47-yard field goal attempt to take the lead was NO GOOD. Hooked left.

The Eagles took over at their own 37-yard line. Hurts stiff-armed a defensive lineman and then ran for no gain (so, officially a sack). Barkley got tackled for a loss. Facing 3rd-and-11, Hurts’ throw towards the sideline was off target and incomplete. Would’ve been holding on Jordan Mailata anyway. Three-and-out.
Ringo forced the Ravens’ punt returner to fumble but Baltimore was fortunate to get back on the ball. The Ravens were able to take over at their own 18-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-5 after picking up a first down, Jackson ran towards the marker but got knocked out of bounds by Rodgers short of the first down. John Harbaugh had the Ravens go for it from their own 39-yard line and their sneak moved the chains. Facing 3rd-and-2, Jackson ran and fumbled but the Ravens recovered yet again (more good fumble luck). Cooper DeJean broke up a downfield pass to old friend Nelson Agholor, really nice play by the rookie DB. Facing 3rd-and-7, Jackson targeted Agholor downfield again and the wide receiver (who beat Avonte Maddox, still inexplicably on the field) dropped the ball. Hm … why does that seem familiar? The Ravens went for a 53-yard field goal attempt and it was NO GOOD with the ball going wide right.
The Eagles took over at their own 42-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-7, Hurts had a pass deflected at the line of scrimmage for the second time in the game. Another three-and-out. Braden Mann had another good punt to end the third quarter.

Braden Mann averaging 51.3 yards on 6 punts today.

5 of them downed in the 20, 2 of them down in the 5.

Nice work by the #Eagles punter.

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) December 1, 2024

FOURTH QUARTER

The Ravens took over at their own 5-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-2, pressure nearly got to Jackson but he flipped the ball out to Henry, who took the ball for a first down. A flag was thrown for defensive holding on DeJean anyway, which actually got tacked on to the play since Jackson’s pass was ruled a lateral and not a pass (defensive holding on a run). Facing 3rd-and-10, Jackson’s checkdown completion was stopped well short of the marker.
The Eagles took over at their own 30-yard line. They picked up a first down with a Ravens penalty. Facing 3rd-and-7, Hurts hit a crossing Goedert for another big first down. Good ball. Barkley broke a run for another first down. Hurts made a nice decision to take off running on a keeper for yet another first down. Then Barkley finally broke a run to the distance, breaking through tackles to scamper for the 25-yard touchdown! MUCH-NEEDED scoring drive. Two-possession lead with 7:56 to play. EAGLES 21, RAVENS 12.

Eagles fans with loud “MVP” chants at the Ravens’ stadium after Philly’s running back breaks a 25-yard TD run.

Eagles go up two possessions, 21 to 12.

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) December 2, 2024

The Ravens took over at their own 30-yard line. Henry immediately ran for a first down. Carter helped to stuff Henry for a TFL. Facing 3rd-and-11, DeJean pile drived Henry into the ground after a Jackson checkdown. Wow! Facing 4th-and-8, Harbaugh kept the offense on the field … and Jackson’s throw was nearly picked by McCollum but the ball went through his hands. But the turnover on downs was likely better than the interception there anyway!

The Eagles took over at the plus 42-yard line with 6:11 remaining. Facing 3rd-and-1 after two Barkley runs, the Eagles went Brotherly Shove to bring up fourth down and the Ravens called their second timeout. Facing 4th-and-inches, the Eagles went Brotherly Shove again and it resulted in more than a first down. Barkley had the ball punched out but he was able to get back on it for a recovery. Facing 3rd-and-7, Barkley dropped his shoulder entering traffic and willed his way for a first down. He’s simply insane. The Ravens called their final timeout at 2:54. Two more Barkley runs took it down to 2:00. Facing 3rd-and-7, slid for a loss in the backfield to keep the clock running down to 1:15. Jake Elliott came in for the 39-yard field goal attempt and the Ravens blocked it … but Nate Wiggins was clearly offside. Elliott’s 34-yard field goal attempt was GOOD! Two touchdown lead. EAGLES 24, RAVENS 12.

Saquon Barkley is now over 100 yards rushing tonight. He has gone over 100 in 8 of 12 games this season.

— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) December 2, 2024

Saquon Barkley has six rush TD of 20+ yards in the second half this season.

That’s the most in #NFL history for a single season.#Eagles

— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrCBS) December 2, 2024

The Ravens took over at their own 30-yard line with 1:03 left in the game. Jackson ripped off a 40-yard run on a garbage time drive to put the Ravens at the 10-yard line with 0:07 left. Jackson hit Isaiah Likely for a garbage time TD with 0:03 left. EAGLES 24, RAVENS 19.

The Ravens’ onside kick was recovered by Jahan Dotson. The trade was officially worth it! (Not really.) Victory formation to seal the deal!

FINAL SCORE: EAGLES BEAT RAVENS, 24 to 19

EAGLES LINEUP NOTES

Britain Covey officially started at wide receiver with DeVonta Smith out.
The Eagles utilized No. 2 tight end Grant Calcaterra in the Ben VanSumeren fullback role.

EAGLES INJURY NEWS

Britain Covey briefly visited the medical tent early in the second quarter. Covey (neck) visited the medical tent again early in the fourth quarter. He was ruled questionable to return.
Milton Williams got hurt late in the second quarter. He returned to the game.
Quinyon Mitchell got hurt in the third quarter after Baun’s helmet hit the rookie’s knee. Mitchell visited the medical tent and returned on the next drive.
Nakobe Dean came out for one snap later in the third quarter. Oren Burks briefly replaced him.
Reed Blankenship (concussion) got banged up late in the third quarter and got evaluated in the medical tent. He then went back in the tunnel and was ruled out. Tristin McCollum, not Sydney Brown, came in at safety for the second week in a row.
Dallas Goedert (knee) was ruled questionable to return in the fourth quarter.